Tag Archives: BRCA
Patents on BRCA genes ruled invalid
The ACLU has won the lawsuit against Myriad Laboratories re: their patenting of human BRCA1 & BRCA2 genes. “Today’s ruling is a victory for the free flow of ideas in scientific research,” said Chris Hansen, a staff attorney with the … Continue reading
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Jade Goody & the mythology of redemption: the spectre of cancer in the media
Jade Goody–the Big Brother reality television “star”-cum-cancer martyr–died the day before I started my own chemotherapy. I remember standing on the platform at the Royal Oak train station, waiting to go to the hospital for my first chemo treatment, looking … Continue reading
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Results are in
& I do NOT have a BRCA mutation. Which is, yes, good news. Who wants to take me out for a martini? But my sense of emotional relief is tempered by the rational knowledge that this relief is largely artificial and unfounded, since I’ve already had f-ing cancer, … Continue reading
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Genetic testing in squares, circles, and small unmarked bills
I met with the genetic counselor yesterday–which had me imagining she would sit my DNA down in an upholstered chair, a box of tissues beside it, and try to coax it to talk about its childhood while she sat nodding, notebook … Continue reading
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It’s “Previvors,” preventative mastectomies & a battery of hypotheticals
Jenni Murray recently discussed preventative mastectomy on Woman’s Hour; you can listen here to her interviews with a genetic medicine consultant and a BRCA+ woman who had prophylactic bilateral mastectomies and runs a helpline for hereditary breast cancer. Only 8 1/2 minutes, and … Continue reading
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Breast Cancer® by Beckett
<—For the cure! Because why the hell not? Pink shit everywhere. As omnipresent as the American flag and just as commercialized, bastardized almost out of meaning. Not completely. But almost. Because as the American flag still connotes the rockets’ red … Continue reading
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external shows
The other night we felt like slumming it and went to pick up Dominos in Didcot, where we saw the typical weekend chav-rabble cluttering the pavement outside, queuing up for pizzas and fish and chips. Obese. Smoking. Pregnant. And I … Continue reading
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outside interests
“Are you still finding time to do things you enjoy?” “That doesn’t matter.” “Yes, it–” “I don’t care about anything else but getting treatment.” A ‘conversation’ I had with my oncologist, around about the time I learned the second chemo … Continue reading
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not your mama’s breast cancer blog
I thought, before pursuing this project any further, I should make something quite clear. I read a lot of breast cancer blogs and they are chock-a-block with ‘inspirational’ women who have dealt graciously with their disease, nonchalantly even, smiling, like it’s … Continue reading
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